tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post6437388432990536261..comments2017-09-26T13:54:28.456-07:00Comments on By Ken Levine: The Comedy "Rule of 3'sKen Levinenoreply@blogger.comBlogger21125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-59494715530678309402017-07-19T18:32:32.473-07:002017-07-19T18:32:32.473-07:00The new FEMA Director warns that we&#39;re not pre...The new FEMA Director warns that we&#39;re not prepared for the worst types of disasters - floods, wildfires, The Nationals&#39; bullpen.<br /><br />I did what I could.<br /><br />Charles H Bryannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-5028107049466711922017-07-18T18:37:21.473-07:002017-07-18T18:37:21.473-07:00&quot;Anonymous Diane D said...
Perhaps D McEwan d...<i>&quot;Anonymous Diane D said...<br />Perhaps D McEwan didn&#39;t notice that Peter&#39;s elegantly crafted comment was in three parts, illustrating that the Rule of Three abounds in all written communication, and at the same time sharing some information he thought would be of interest to Ken and others. Of course the opportunity to use the delicious phrase &#39;spittle flecked fury&#39; would also be irresistible, I would think. <br /><br />I tremble to think what your reply might be, but don&#39;t be too mean, I just ordered your book.&quot;</i><br /><br />Well, if you&#39;ve just ordered one of my two new books, you are clearly a woman of taste and refinement, and I&#39;m about $8 richer. (Which one did you order? Asking for a friend.)D. McEwannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-44638469214613547822017-07-18T13:28:39.032-07:002017-07-18T13:28:39.032-07:00Anonymous: Not just American. It&#39;s a pretty mu...Anonymous: Not just American. It&#39;s a pretty much standard rhetorical trope. Something about the way humans think.<br /><br />wgWendy M. Grossmanhttp://www.pelicancrossing.netnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-87551340327225292762017-07-18T01:23:25.113-07:002017-07-18T01:23:25.113-07:00The rule of three is also a rhetorical device ofte...The rule of three is also a rhetorical device often employed in many of what&#39;s considered great American speeches, such as &quot;The Gettysburg Address.&quot; <br /><br />OrleanasAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-12471093201074344902017-07-17T11:33:29.428-07:002017-07-17T11:33:29.428-07:00I wonder if a list of three things is funny for th...I wonder if a list of three things is funny for the same reason limericks have 3 feet of 3 syllables each on the 1st (and 4th and 5th) line. &quot;A rabbi, a monk, and a priest&quot;.Mark P.noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-36876560634098704052017-07-17T11:25:05.387-07:002017-07-17T11:25:05.387-07:00Thank you, Diane. :-)
And Doug, I still like you,...Thank you, Diane. :-)<br /><br />And Doug, I still like you, so no hard feelings.Peternoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-71589588479427923192017-07-17T10:00:48.098-07:002017-07-17T10:00:48.098-07:00Euphony is everything, especially in groups of thr...Euphony is everything, especially in groups of three.<br />You are all aware that Curly Howard&#39;s real first name was Jerry - you are, aren&#39;t you?<br />Moe, Larry, and Jerry.<br />Jerry, Moe, and Larry.<br />Larry, Moe, and Jerry.<br />Jerry, Larry, and Moe ...<br />Maybe I&#39;m wrong here ...<br /><br />All these are almost ordinary names, whereas Shemp isn&#39;t a name you likely grew up with in school.<br /><br />Fun Fact:<br />After Larry Fine&#39;s stroke knocked him out of the act, he was going to be replaced by the group&#39;s longtime foil, Emil Sitka.<br />As part of the deal, reportedly, Sitka&#39;s character was going to be called - <b>Harry</b>.<br />Make of that what you will ...<br />Mike Doranhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05527404061764217504noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-18962356776179162832017-07-17T09:43:07.424-07:002017-07-17T09:43:07.424-07:00I like watching for the running gag in sets of thr...I like watching for the running gag in sets of three. Not big enough to be a B story and usually a bit abstract like something about a dish washing machine, for example (on Home Improvement)...<br />How many different ways can or should the rule of three be used?WOKcreativeWritingshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13178299983770215150noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-26709040660022110272017-07-17T08:28:29.614-07:002017-07-17T08:28:29.614-07:00I would argue that in context canned tuna is funni...I would argue that in context canned tuna is funnier. You could say, &quot;Our fresh fish of the day is canned tuna.&quot; and that&#39;s funny because its kind of sarcastic, and everyone knows what tuna is and everyone knows that canned isn&#39;t fresh. Whereas gefilte is a funny sounding word, but a big chunk of your audience isn&#39;t going to get the joke.<br /><br />I wonder if the rule of three, or the turn, work so well <i>because</i> the are anticipated? Isn&#39;t half the successful telling of a joke in the priming of the audience? It&#39;s something that is often missing in comedy today, the patience to woo your audience instead of hitting them over the head. McAlvienoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-69195386912654981342017-07-17T01:56:33.449-07:002017-07-17T01:56:33.449-07:00Perhaps D McEwan didn&#39;t notice that Peter&#39;...Perhaps D McEwan didn&#39;t notice that Peter&#39;s elegantly crafted comment was in three parts, illustrating that the Rule of Three abounds in all written communication, and at the same time sharing some information he thought would be of interest to Ken and others. Of course the opportunity to use the delicious phrase &quot;spittle flecked fury&quot; would also be irresistible, I would think. <br /><br />I tremble to think what your reply might be, but don&#39;t be too mean, I just ordered your book. Diane Dnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-53188775920962207862017-07-16T21:44:11.978-07:002017-07-16T21:44:11.978-07:00It&#39;s odd how &quot;Larry, Moe and Shemp&quot; ...It&#39;s odd how &quot;Larry, Moe and Shemp&quot; sounds funnier than &quot;Larry, Moe and Curly,&quot; when in reality, it&#39;s so not. <br /><br />Over my years of writing the Comedy Wire radio service, I had a lot of young writers ask to contribute topical one-liners, and the two biggest problems they had were brevity and specificity. <br /><br />Getting to the punchline in the fewest words was not only beneficial to the joke, it was also a necessity during the days when we were a pay-by-the-page fax broadcast service, and I was constantly trying to switch two-syllable words to one syllable, just to reduce a sentence from one-and-a-fraction lines to one line. And many of them would give me lines that contained a decent idea, but the language was too vague. I tried to teach them how much funnier it would be if they could come up with the perfect word - the word that doesn&#39;t just sound funny but that creates an instant, hilarious image in people&#39;s minds -- instead of just a generalized concept. My go-to examples of that usually came from the master, Woody Allen (the early, funny Woody Allen). Pat Reederhttp://www.facebook.com/hollywoodhifibooknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-42022198639068631622017-07-16T17:27:47.880-07:002017-07-16T17:27:47.880-07:00&quot;Anonymous Peter said...
The new Dr Who is a ...<i>&quot;Anonymous Peter said...<br />The new Dr Who is a woman. Misogynists will not be happy. The internet is in danger of meltdown from all their spittle flecked fury!&quot;</i><br /><br />And this has what to do with The Rule of 3? And why not wait for the backlash actually to happen before critiquing it? This is pre-criticism.<br /><br />Speaking of sci-fi and The Rule of Three, <i>Star Trek</i> and <i>Doctor Who</i> both use it for historical references, always two true events and one made-up one. &quot;The Battle of Britain, the massacre of Masada, and the attack of the Bee People from Theta-Five.&quot; &quot;The most beautiful women are found in America, Italy and Hydrox VII.&quot; &quot;The worst monsters in history were Caligula, Hitler and the Dalek Emperor.&quot; Etc.D. McEwannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-59042276420780086472017-07-16T16:12:54.257-07:002017-07-16T16:12:54.257-07:00You should do a shout out for the new Dave Niehaus...You should do a shout out for the new Dave Niehaus book &quot;My Oh My&quot; because the author speaks quite extensively of your time with the ball club.Mike Barerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14447874605833321732noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-63948454655021075182017-07-16T14:19:35.284-07:002017-07-16T14:19:35.284-07:00My favorite groups of three are the &quot;irregula...My favorite groups of three are the &quot;irregular verbs&quot; from YES, MINISTER. For example: I give confidential press briefings; you leak; he&#39;s been charged under the Official Secrets Act. Or: I have an independent mind; you are an eccentric; he is round the twist. <br /><br />Unfortunately, I can&#39;t remember a third offhand, but I know there were more of these.<br /><br />wgWendy M. Grossmanhttp://www.pelicancrossing.netnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-55222418961097251352017-07-16T13:42:26.664-07:002017-07-16T13:42:26.664-07:00Regarding the Three Stooges: Top-billing actually ...Regarding the Three Stooges: Top-billing actually went to Moe on studio contracts and in opening credits for their comedy shorts, yet people invariably say Larry&#39;s name first when discussing the team. Any thoughts on why the Larry-first pronunciation and rhythm is more appealing? (If it were simply a matter of character popularity, there seems no doubt that Curly would be named first.) Powerhouse Salternoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-10565570466953085102017-07-16T12:27:28.349-07:002017-07-16T12:27:28.349-07:00I know in star trek they would do this a lot. Exce...I know in star trek they would do this a lot. Except they would refer to things like the studies of Einstein Hawkins and who ever alien from what ever planet to establish a pattern. cale Blalockhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04972120734967190557noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-17141196772181568872017-07-16T11:50:44.274-07:002017-07-16T11:50:44.274-07:00The new Dr Who is a woman. Misogynists will not be...The new Dr Who is a woman. Misogynists will not be happy. The internet is in danger of meltdown from all their spittle flecked fury!Peternoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-72069736522871309672017-07-16T09:31:46.912-07:002017-07-16T09:31:46.912-07:00Maybe now is the time to acknowledge Bill Dana, a ...Maybe now is the time to acknowledge Bill Dana, a comedian to be sure, but an even better comedy writer. <br />He died recently.<br />He came up with the &quot;Would you believe&quot; routine for Don Adams - which is the quintessential &quot;rule of threes&quot;.<br />He also wrote one of, if not the most famous television comedy episodes of the 1970&#39;s - Sammy Davis Jr. kissing Archie on All in The Family. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-32125705535151032772017-07-16T07:33:28.433-07:002017-07-16T07:33:28.433-07:00After last night&#39;s near-fiasco in Cincinnati (...After last night&#39;s near-fiasco in Cincinnati (eerily reminiscent of a near-disaster in Oakland earlier this season), someone please come up with a &quot;rule of 3&quot; where the punchline is the Nationals&#39; bullpen.VP81955https://www.blogger.com/profile/11792390726196611188noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-26421353906303620142017-07-16T07:13:40.303-07:002017-07-16T07:13:40.303-07:00Mister Levine: Good column on the &quot;comedy in ...Mister Levine: Good column on the &quot;comedy in threes.&quot;<br />A classic example that I recalled instantly came from the Dick Van Dyke Show, as you probably very well recall. <br />I&#39;m sorry that I can&#39;t remember the exact words used or the episode it was in, but it went something like this:<br />Buddy (to Mel): &quot;Mel, can we get you something? Coffee, doughnut .... toupee?&quot;<br />Mel Brooks also used it in History of the World Part I when a vendor called out, &quot;shampoo, shave ... bloodletting???&quot;<br />Just wanted to throw my two cents worth in!Jeff Alexanderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06626617823721757256noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-83761896625797823842017-07-16T06:32:34.537-07:002017-07-16T06:32:34.537-07:00 “Our fresh fish today is halibut, salmon, and Abe... “Our fresh fish today is halibut, salmon, and Abe Vigoda.” Like this Ken? Ralph C.https://www.blogger.com/profile/12488657064245017543noreply@blogger.com